The present invention concerns a finger-ring of the type which is commonly used as a jewellery item, an engagement ring or wedding ring or for other purposes.
It is commonly known and experienced by most ring wearers that with time a ring becomes more and more difficult to remove. Since the period of time for which a ring is used may well extend over decades, and while at the same time there occurs a physical organic changing of the fingers, joints, bones, muscles and sinews, the difficulty involved in the removal of a ring or the placing of a ring on the finger generally increases with time and the person""s age.
The extent of the difficulty herewith is immediately greater than is assumed, and is increasing in general with the increasing use of several rings on both hands by both younger men and women.
At the same time, a precondition for productions, processes and the operation of machines is to an increasing degree that rings and other metal elements can be removed, either out of regard for bacteriological conditions or accumulated impurities which can have influence on the result of the finished product, not least in the production of foodstuffs, medicinal products or corresponding precision or sterile production conditions, where general cleanliness is a necessity for the whole production process out of regard for the result of the finished product.
A completely different problem is that of the thickening of the individual""s fingers or joints as a result of sickness, changes in connective tissues and the like which, for example, arise in cases of arthritic ailments, or swelling as result of local oedema in the limbs and fingers with corresponding consequences.
For a large group of people, the removal and replacing of finger-rings thus arises as a daily recurring difficulty as a consequence of working situations, washing of hands and the like.
Since rings are often of a great symbolic and personal value to the wearers, the disadvantages connected herewith are a daily phenomenon which must be overcome, but which still does not discourage any great number of people from wearing rings, even though this involves problems and irritation.
There has thus long been an increasing need for a ring which can be removed and replaced even after use for many years. The ring could possibly be executed with the possibility of a certain elastic expansion, but this is hardly consistent with the general expectation that a ring should be of a firm, solid structure, and the necessary single-handed operation could be difficult. The ring could rather be configured in a manner corresponding to that of openable bangles or bracelets, but this is made difficult by the fact that precisely at the fingers there is very poor possibility for the provision of various hinge and releasing parts, since any irregularity here will have a strongly irritating effect.
With the invention it has thus been accepted that the desire for an openable, conventional finger-ring can hardly be realised in practice, but it is also recognised that a fully usable solution can be created if the conventional round ring configuration is modified in a manner which in practice is fully acceptable, i.e. to a more or less edged configuration, in the extreme case to a purely quadratic shape. With such a shape as the starting point, the situation will arise that the one, non-integrated side of the quadratic sides without any form of noticeable hinge will be able to swing out around a pivot axis defined by an adjoining square side, while the free end of this outwardly-pivotal side will be able to co-operate in the manner of a snap-lock with the free end part of the oppositely adjoining square side of the ring. Such a snap-lock will require the incorporation of special spring means, in that for this purpose direct use will be able to be made of the elasticity of or in the three coherent square sides, so that upon opening and closing the free end of the pivotal side must merely give rise to a transitional expansion of the fixed U-part, which is formed by the three sides which are connected together. There are hereby achieved two important functions, i.e.
1) the outwardly-pivotal side or ring-beam Dart can be turned outwards or inwards without coming into conflict with the finger, i.e. for the opening and closing respectively of the said U-shaped part, and
2) the relevant side or beam-part in itself constitutes the necessary operating element for implementing the opening and the closing, i.e. this element does not have the character of any irritating excrescence, but is a part of the ring element itself. When attention is focussed fundamentally on a ring structure with four straight sides, one of the reasons is that the pivotal ring part in itself should be more or less straight in order to be able to swing outwards and inwards without conflict with the finger. There is, however, the further reason that in order to provide a mechanically strong pivot connection between the pivotal part and the U-part, it is tantamount to a necessity that the pivotal part is configured with a pivot pin which, under the cramped space conditions, can be accommodated in a hole in the adjoining end part of the U-part, whereby this part, which in practice will constitute the main part of the relevant side of the U-part, will in itself be more or less straight. Actually, the remaining part of the U-part can be configured in a curved manner, but in practice the ring designer will prefer a harmonic shape with two substantially straight ring side pieces and slightly curved under and upper-side pieces. In principle, it can be either the upper or the under-piece which is the pivotal part, but since many rings have a specially emphasised upper part it will be more natural that it is precisely this part which is the pivotal part, primarily because by virtue of its configuration it will be the easiest part on which to get a grip.